Remind Me

3| James.

"Has anyone even checked in with Riley to make sure we were still okay to come over?" Eldon asked as we all approached her house. Emily insisted that we just take the one car, I have no idea why but here we are
"Why would we need to check?" Michelle asked
"I mean you did kind of invite us over Mich" Emily laughed

Before any of us could say another word, a door opened in the estate and a guy came out with a black bin bag in his hands placing it in a outside bin before glancing over at us
"Here goes nothing" Emily muttered to herself barely audible meaning she thought it was only her who would hear it 

We walked towards the guy, I've never met him but I would be able to pin point that face anywhere. I'm not a jealous guy but I would also be lying to you if I said that I hadn't looked into it a little deeper when I got home yesterday
Two years is a long time and I don't know.. 

"Ty!" Emily smiled engulfing him into a hug as he met us all by the curb
"Emily, Michelle. Lovely to see you again" He smiled addressing the girls before turning to the boys nodding 
"You must be Eldon, West and James I presume?" He chuckled offering his hand to all of us to shake keeping the same contagious smile on his lips
"The girls speak very highly of all of you" He continued as we followed him into the house 

I had envisioned how Riley's house would look and to say I hit the nail on the head would be an understatement 

The inside was almost perfect, crystal white walls with the random pops of colours through out whether it be the wall behind the TV, the spackle between the tiles in the kitchen or the colourful photos that would remind her of the years in the past
I could help but notice some of the pictures, a lot of them included her time at The Next Step.. A time I had thought she had left behind 
Evidently not

"Where is Riles?" Emily asked as we all took a seat on the sofa in their living room. This house was huge to say the least
"She's still at work, I think she's running a bit behind" Tyler said taking out his phone to see no message from Riley

"What is Riley is doing for work now a days?" West asked, I was glad I wasn't the only one completely in the dark right now
The boys were just as distant with this all as I was

"She works in a school, she's a teacher" Michelle said confidently
"That's awesome" Eldon smiled
"Yeah she is smitten with it all, she loves the kids and treats them like they're her own" Tyler proudly said
"Which makes July incredibly hard for Ri" Emily chuckled making us boys nod
"How's she been since?" Michelle said looking at Tyler while Emily glared at her
"Michelle shut up" She warned her but Tyler offered her a sympathetic smile

There was clearly something else we were missing here..

"She's okay, there are days where it's harder then others. But when the time comes we'll figure something out" Tyler said softly
"Can we ask what's going on?" Eldon asked making everyone look back at Tyler 

I think if Eldon used his brain right now he should be able to put two and two together. Or maybe it was just obvious to me?

Before Tyler could either deny Eldon or allow him the information, the door to the house opened up to reveal a flustered Riley walking into the house with her hands full of folders
"I'm sorry I'm late, the staff meeting ran over" She explained making most of turn and offer her a smile
"You aren't even that late Riley, chill" Emily said making me look at Emily with a raised brow
"No way did Emily of all people tell someone to chill" I said making the rest of the company burst out laughing 

--

Growing up, Riley had her whole life planned out and I hate to admit it but she has almost everything she wanted

-A job in education? Check
-A house she can make her own? Check
-A guy who loves her unconditionally? Check
-Her family happy around her? Check

There was only one thing she was missing, but something tells me that was what Tyler was hinting at earlier

"Hey, what are you doing out here?" Riley asked coming out. We had all been in the garden for a little while but without even noticing everyone had gone back in so I was momentarily on my own
"I was just lost in my own thoughts I guess" I said offering her a smile 
"James lost in his own thoughts? What happened to Mr don't-even-worry-about-it?" She laughed making me roll my eyes
"he grew up Ri and realised that sometimes you do need to worry about things" I said making her nod 

"So come on, lay it on me James. What's up?" She asked, I glanced at her with a raised brow before the pair of us burst out laughing
Honestly it felt nice to laugh with her again after all these years

"I've missed this you know" Riley said making smile to myself
"Me too, it's been a long time since we've had any interaction let alone one like this. It reminds me of the old us" I chuckled
"Which old us? When you were chasing after me and I was adamant I was not interested or when you were trying to get me back after Beth?" She smirked

"Act like you weren't interested all you want Ri, it was clear as day to anyone who was looking" I said nudging her while she rolled her eyes again 

"You know this is everything you wanted" I said looking back out at the garden, it came with an almost picture perfect view if I'm honest
"It took me a long time to get here" She smiled
"Would you have changed anything?" I asked glancing back at her
"In what retrospect?" Riley questioned and honestly I didn't know. I wanted to say us, I wanted to take back everything I had ever said to her but that wasn't ever going to be an option

"James, you were a huge part of my life. When we went separate ways and stopped talking it was hard. Harder then I'll ever honestly admit" Riley said placing her hand on my arm to grab my attention
"I think everything is meant to happen for a reason. Maybe we were always better off as friends who knows" She said mumbling the last few words

"But I'm prepared to work on a friendship if you are? Heaven knows I've missed our laughs together" She said offering the move sincere smile I think I have ever seen 

"A friendship? I just got well and truly friendzoned. Ouchhhh" I whined making Riley roll her eyes still keeping the smile on her face

"Come on James" She said giving me her Riley stare, the one she only uses when it comes to her being serious
"A friendship is all we need Ri, We're back better then ever" I said winking at her watching a small red tint creep on her her cheeks before she broke our eye contact looking out at the view again 

We're back..